Goudhurst is a very picturesquely situated village, having the advantage of its neighbour in the matter of height, for it is on the summit of one of the loftiest ridges in the Weald and all about it are to be had grand views - that from the church to the south across the "Fright" woods and Bedgebury Park is especially fine. This view from the churchyard is said by one with a liking for the particularity of figures to be "about twenty-five miles in diameter." In the church, much rebuilt and restored, the tower of which forms a striking landmark, are some curious old monuments while in the large village are some of the ancient houses in which the clothmaking industry was carried on in the palmy days of that manufacture in Kent. "Some little wool staplery business" was continued here on into the early nineteenth century.extract from Highways and Byways in Kent by Walter Jerrold published in 1914

Places and properties in Goudhurst - a directory of homes, farms, churches, schools, inns, and other places of interest that existed prior to 1900 has been compiled from Post Office directories, Kelly's directories, Trade directories, Census data, Ordnance survey maps and books of the period